Cricket Witness No 4 - Women at the WIcket

9 Introduction ‘It gradually got that you were free’ them enjoying the little free time they had. In Hastings, the WRAF played at their barracks in their uniforms, with no kit other than a ball, a bat and some improvised stumps. Women at the Wrens training depot in Crystal Palace had similar experiences. 5 Although the vast majority of female volunteers were stationed in Britain, some in the armed services did serve on the Western Front, albeit usually well behind enemy lines. Members of the WAAC in Etaples, a major British camp in France, attempted to alleviate the boredom of convalescing soldiers and aid their recovery by playing cricket with them. Despite being slightly better provisioned with a full set of leg guards and some wicket- keeping gloves, the women bowled underarm and probably had little or no previous experience playing the game. It is probable these activities, which also included mixed-sex hockey and netball, were an attempt by senior military figures to improve the moral standards and recreational provisions of the camp following a week-long mutiny just eight months previously. As the WAAC was the only women’s armed service that accepted working- class entrants, some of them former munitions workers, it is likely these matches were the first time many of them had played a game of cricket. 6 Women rarely had the opportunity to play before 1917. In the words of national hero W.G. Grace, cricket was ‘not a game for women, and although the fair sex occasionally join in a picnic game, they are not constitutionally The Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps in Etaples, France play cricket with convalescing soldiers to aid their recovery, 1 May 1918. Cricket played by women in the armed services was usually makeshift, using whatever equipment they could find. (© IWM Q 8764)